Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the best thing to happen to the GOP all year

Jazz ShawPosted at 10:41 am on July 17, 2018

In the midst of a growing number of dismal news cycles, let’s take a moment to pause once again and at least be grateful for the unexpected primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the socialist wonder from the Bronx. Yesterday, Ed brought up her rather, er… remarkable interview in which she demonstrated her policy chops on Mideast unrest. But there’s not only more to that story, but some additional highlights from her cross-country adventure which should put a smile on the faces of conservatives hoping for a good result in the midterms.

As Ed noted, Ocasio-Cortez’s knowledge of the history of Israel and the Palestinians is dismal at best, but she really begins to shine when she attempts to draw comparisons between that conflict and “similar” situations in the United States. The Free Beacon brings us the extended video and her rationale as to why conflict in Gaza is pretty much the same as what you find in places like… Ferguson, Missouri.

The New York Democrat explained that she sees Palestinians being killed as no different than if American protesters were killed by the U.S. government.

“The lens through which I saw this incident [at the Israel-Gaza border], as an activist, as an organizer—60 people were killed in Ferguson, Missouri, 60 people were killed in the South Bronx, unarmed, 60 people were killed in Puerto Rico—I just look at that incident … just as an incident, and to me it would just be completely unacceptable if that happened on our shores,” she said.

After admitting yet again that she’s, “not the expert on geopolitics on this issue,” she actually went on to offer solutions. Not being one to shy away from confronting a problem, the savior of the Democratic Party volunteered to sit down and broker a Mideast peace solution.

“I am a firm believer in finding a two-state solution on this issue, and I’m happy to sit down with leaders on both of these —for me, I just look at things through a human rights lens, and I may not use the right words. I know this is a very intense issue.”

In the interview, Ocasio-Cortez referred to “the occupation of Palestine,” although no Palestinian state currently exists. She went on to explain that this is an important issue on which she is “willing to learn and evolve.”

Yes indeed. Kissinger couldn’t do it. Reagon, Clinton and both Bushes somehow couldn’t crack the code. Jared Kushner has yet to produce tangible results. But if we send over a bartender from the Bronx who hasn’t even won a seat in Congress yet, packing a copy of Mideast Peace for Dummies in her purse, success should soon be within our grasp.

As far as winning that seat goes, the candidate clearly doesn’t feel as if she needs to campaign in her district anymore. She’s been taking her show on the road and will soon be in Michigan to campaign for gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed. (His actual name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.) The candidate, a health specialist, says that he was inspired to run for Governor after learning about the Flint water crisis. That probably makes Ocasio-Cortez a perfect fit for his campaign because I’m pretty sure she believes the water problems in Flint are pretty much the same as the Israeli occupation of the nation of Palestine. (Pretty much everything is, you know.)

She has more stops on her schedule too, leading me to wonder precisely how heavily the Democratic Party plans to lean on Ocasio-Cortez as the face of their hopes for the midterms. She’s already proving to be error-prone, arrogant and wholly unrealistic in terms of the “benefits” of socialism as a replacement for ugly old capitalism. At this point, even some of her Democratic allies are getting tired of their new savior, with some warning that “meteors fizz out” pretty quickly.

Some legislators are voicing concerns that Ocasio-Cortez appears set on using her newfound star power to attack Democrats from the left flank, threatening to divide the party — and undermine its chances at retaking the House — in a midterm election year when leaders are scrambling to form a united front against President Trump and Republicans.

The members are not mincing words, warning that Ocasio-Cortez is making enemies of soon-to-be colleagues even before she arrives on Capitol Hill, as she’s expected to do after November’s midterms.

“She’s carrying on and she ain’t gonna make friends that way,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ).

This is a mistake that Democrats have made before, latching onto someone they believe is destiny’s child and the next savior of their electoral hopes. But loading too many of your hopes in an untested messenger comes with risks. Fame and destiny were thrust on Barack Obama after his 2004 convention speech. He went on to some significant victories for himself, but he wound up being a mediocre president whose personal popularity clearly didn’t carry over to benefit the rest of his party once he was done. Do the Democrats want to make that mistake again?